Popular South African-themed restaurant Peli Peli to open in The Woodlands

By Marialuisa Rincon, Staff writer

Updated
12:55 pm CST, Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Peli Peli, the Houston-based South African-fusion restaurant, is set to open its fifth Houston-area location in The Woodland in April. Pictured: the restaurant’s Peri-Peri chicken that has been rotisserie cooked then deep fried.

Peli Peli, the Houston-based South African-fusion restaurant, is set to open its fifth Houston-area location in The Woodland in April. Pictured: the restaurant’s Peri-Peri chicken that has been rotisserie

Peli Peli, the Houston-based South African-fusion restaurant, is set to open its fifth Houston-area location in The Woodland in April. Pictured: the restaurant’s Peri-Peri chicken that has been rotisserie cooked then deep fried.

Peli Peli, the Houston-based South African-fusion restaurant, is set to open its fifth Houston-area location in The Woodland in April. Pictured: the restaurant’s Peri-Peri chicken that has been rotisserie

Popular South African-themed restaurant Peli Peli to open in The Woodlands

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Fans of Peli Peli shrimp, Great Karoo lamb chops and the Cape Town Skillet are in luck.

Peli Peli, famous for its upscale South African-fusion fare, is working to open its fifth location in the former location of Mi Cocina at 1201 Lake Woodlands Drive in April.

The location would join restaurants in the Galleria, Vintage Park and Cinco Ranch, as well as a soon-to-be-opened Austin location.

A location in The Woodlands was a natural next step for the chain, co-owner Thomas Nguyen said. The elevated dining concept is expected do well in the suburbs, and the community was already asking for it, with several customers at the Vintage Park location on State Highway 249 inquiring about a Woodlands location, he added.

“We’ve always had a small community of people from The Woodlands familiar with our concept,” Nguyen said.

The permiting process to actually open the location is yet to be finished, Nguyen said, but the more than 6,800-square foot space is set to be the first of the restaurant’s locations built in the South African “Cape Dutch” architectural style most seen in the city of Stellenbosch, which features whitewashed walls, thatched roofs and wooden shutters.

“The Woodlands is proud of the forest and the greenery here,” Nguyen. “It matches the Cape Dutch architecture very well.”